BETHEL, Ohio - It was only a few weeks ago that Saugatuck's Oliver Bub (Westport, Conn.) and Lucas Manning (Westport, Conn.) even started rowing in a pair together.
In the short month of July they became U.S. Junior Team members preparing to compete in Rio de Janeiro at the 2015 World Rowing Junior Championships and are quickly on their way to being major contenders in three boats at the 2015 USRowing Club Nationals.
Racing continued on Thursday as 37 finals were set for the first half of the 2015 USRowing Club Nationals. The race course started off buzzing with excitement as camera crews from the local CBS affiliate in Cincinnati, Channel 12, broadcasted live from the race course throughout the morning.
"We didn't have a lot of racing experience in the pair going into trials except the Independence Day Regatta," said Manning. "Any additional races we have before Rio is just going to help us in the long-run and we are hoping to continue to get more experience and get faster."
The duo will race in the men's junior eight later in the weekend. First they will continue to contend as one of the top boats in the men's U19 four and the intermediate pair. Racing in their semifinal early Thursday morning, the crew from Westport, Connecticut posted the fourth fastest time of the event and came second in their morning semifinal.
In the pair, Manning and Bub posted the second fastest time overall of the semifinals, finishing less than two seconds behind the Mendota Development Camp Crew.
"We have been going out in the pair twice a day," said Bub. "It is nice getting the opportunity to race and compete in different boats. We had a good race in the time trials. We were okay with that and lined up for the semifinals confident but kind of got smacked around as we came in second by over four seconds. We are in the finals though and we are happy with that."
In the four, the pair are joined by Nicola Amato (Basel, Switzerland) and Dean Hochman (Fairfield, Conn.).
The Saugatuck U19 women's eight also had a successful day of racing as the crew posted the fastest time of the semifinals in this morning's race.
Y Quad Cities continued to show it's strength in the sculling boats as four crews including the women's U17 single sculls, the women's intermediate single sculls, the men's U19 quadruple sculls and the men's U19 single sculls all advanced to finals tomorrow morning after today's semifinals.
Not everyone sees sculling as such an easy task, however. Beth Baustian (Davenport,Y Quad Cities A U17 1x - C. Sharis Iowa) spent last season in Iowa's first varsity eight, enjoying the camaraderie and excitement of racing in a big boat. This weekend, the Hawkeye is racing in the women's intermediate single.
"I think the biggest thing is that in a single you have control over yourself," said Baustian. "The drawback of being in the single though is that in the eight you have other people with you and the extra motivation to push hard for your boat mates and your school…I always think of the single as a training tool for thee eight."
Racing continues tomorrow at 8 a.m. starting with grand finals in the men's intermediate eight.